COMMENDEE 2024-25

This nomination was completed by Joy Michie (Senior Practitioner Perth and Kinross Council)

Introduction

I nominate Gillian Anton for her outstanding commitment and dedication to her work in the Justice Service. Gillian has been the Right Track Co-Ordinator in Perth and Kinross since 2007. Gillian and her service work with our most hard to reach young people, aged 16-26, who come into the Justice System. The young people are sentenced to attend a Structured Deferred Sentence by the Court and the  scheme is called Right Track.

Nomination Details

The young people on Right Track are some of the “hardest to reach and engage with” young people in Perth and Kinross Council. Many have care experience backgrounds and most have adverse childhood experiences. The young people consent to attend Right Track to help stabilise their life and hopefully steer them away and out of the Justice System.

Gillian works with up to 25 young people between the ages of 16 and 26. They are required to attend at the Kabin, Westbank, Perth, to engage in one-to-one sessions with Gillian but also to be involved in a ‘work programme’ which is often a small group involved in physical work.

The Kabin was originally a large shed, however with creative vision from Gillian and the young people, this is now a fully insulated, heated cabin, in a section of ground within the Community Westbank Area of Perth, which is progressively being landscaped.

The work programme that’s in place is a mix of practical tasks on site such as gardening/planting and landscaping skills. Some joinery and stonework skills are also involved. The young people are then credited the hours which Gillian then reports back to the Sheriff in her report of how many hours have been done and how well they have engaged. The Sheriff in turn, regularly admonishes the young person on their offending behaviour or gives them a reduced time on a Community Payback Order taking account of the hours completed. A number of young people have completed over 200 hours, sometimes this takes over 2/3 years of being on the programme. This pathway helps young people learn actual groundwork skills, but also softer skills of communicating, having structure to their time, being accountable to Gillian and working as part of a team. This has been seen to veer the young people out of the Justice System. Evidence to support this is that 14 of the young people on Right Track in the year 2023-24 were admonished when they went back to Court to be finally sentenced after their structured deferred sentence.

Gillian uses her unique engagement skills with the young people, a mixture of a nurturing and directive. Her persistence is unwavering when it comes to trying to engage the young people who find it hard to engage. Her gentle care and compassion are what the young people like about Gillian, and they like the Kabin and work area she/they have created. Young people have commented this is a safe space for them, and they enjoy working alongside other young people in their small groups to complete practical tasks. They have said they feel a sense of achievement and learn skills they have never thought possible.

Gillian has designed a person-centred programme which initially gets to know the young person using a series of worksheets and questionnaires and assessment wheels.  Once the initial assessment and engagement phase is completed, Gillian then matches the young people with the work programmes she has also designed. The young person will also be asked to attend the work project they have been assigned, and attendance is expected to be regular.

Comments I have heard from young people about being on the programme include:

Young Person 1

“Very supported, you don’t feel judged, Gillian knows how to work around someone’s mental health, you don’t have to deal with lots of different workers so helps feel more stable, I like to be seen on an individual basis as I don’t like groups.”

Young Person 2

“Right Track has pushed me out of my comfort zone, it’s easy to understand what I have to do, I like it straightforward, personally it’s a safe place for me, I like the fact that I get to use my own ideas at the Work Project.”

Young Person 3

“It has given me structure in my life, it has definitely helped me calm down, I find it a place to voice things when they go wrong, and it is really good to be listened to.”

“I find it supportive being there, I like the fact that our Right Track Garden is enclosed. It’s like our own wee bubble.”

In addition to the safe space Gillian has created, the young people are able to access a number of other services at the Kabin. These include local drug and alcohol advice, Skills Development Scotland have a drop in, Venture Trust Scotland are available, and the young people can access forklift and Manitou training on the wider site.

Gillian has been growing the work project part of the Right Track Programme for a number of years now. From litter picking and graffiti removal as the initial tasks to the now settled large area around the Kabin. Young people learn to sow plants, tend to them, harvest them, and can take home to make a meal with the produce. Gillian even has simple recipes to assist.

Gillian and the Right Track programme is an effective, creative, and inspiring programme, which will continue to evolve over time to meet the needs of the hardest to reach young people in our community.